Sun visor

ABSTRACT

A sun visor for motor vehicles consisting of a structural frame ( 5 ) formed by a recyclable plastic material injected into a mould, and a second material, also recyclable, which is compatible with the material used in the frame and which incorporates certain components of the final sun visor unit.

This invention concerns sun visors and other similar units used in theautomotive industry, where recent regulations reveal an increasingtendency towards convenience of and the need to supply recyclable units.

At the moment, automotive sun visors are normally manufactured in twodifferent ways:

1. A structure, normally made of metal, with a rigid foam body made of aplastic, thermoplastic or thermostable material, which is then coatedeither with layers of a plastic material such as PVC or a textilematerial such as a fabric or felt.

2. Sockets made of a plastic material, which are then coated with alayer of PVC, fabric or TPO.

Foam sun visors are manufactured according to the following modusoperandi:

-   -   Creation of the frame.    -   Moulding of the foam surrounding the flame.    -   Coating the unit with the layers of lining.    -   Sealing the unit by heat sealing or gluing the layers of lining        or by using another similar method.    -   Assembly of the different components such as the mirror, shaft        supports, etc.

Because this type of foam-based sun visors incorporate a metal part and,in most cases, a coating made of other materials such as PVC, theycannot be easily recycled. This situation is complicated further by thefact that the body of the sun visor consists of foam made from athermostable material.

With regard to the two sockets made of thermoplastic material, the firsttwo operations referred to are reduced to a single operation; theinjection of both sockets. These sockets support and form the structureof the sun visor.

Instead of a rigid foam coating this invention opts for a simple closureof the sockets, which is both quicker and easier to carry out. Theremaining operations are repeated as in the case of the metal structureand foam.

The ability to recycle these sun visors with sockets made from athermoplastic material is hampered by the use of materials such as PVCfor the coatings. PVC continues to be the most widely used material inthe majority of sun visors manufactured.

As indicated earlier, the most commonly used techniques in themanufacturing of sun visors are based on the creation of a core unit orframe, which is then coated with layers of another material.

Visors made according to these techniques all hive the inconvenience ofbeing difficult to recycle. It is also difficult to adapt their shape tothe vehicle roof if the roof has pronounced ridges or curves. Thegreatest inconvenience, however, is when they have to be lined orcoated. Furthermore, these conventional sun visors typically havedifferent components incorporated into them, a process that must becarried out after the body of the visor has been manufactured, thusinvolving extra costs as a result of special procedures necessary tocomplete the unit.

It is an object of this invention to provide a sun visor that can berecycled without the need to separate the components beforehand.

Another object of this invention is to create a sun visor, into whichcertain components can be incorporated during the manufacturing stage,thus reducing subsequent assembly operations or eliminating themaltogether.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sun visor that is botheasy and cheap to manufacture.

A further object of this invention is to provide a sun visor that car beadapted to any vehicle roof, no matter the shape or form of the roof.

In order to attain these objectives the invention claims the creation ofa sun visor that differs from other sun visors made up to now in thatthe frame or core unit, made beforehand in another material, is notcoated with layers.

The sun visor, according to the invention, is made by injecting arecyclable thermoplastic material beforehand to form sockets, onto whichis placed another injected thermoplastic material, which can also berecycled and which is compatible with the material used to form thesockets.

A notable feature of these two steps is the added innovation of thepossibility of integrating other features typically associated with asun visor of this type such as, for example, a mirror, a shaft toconnect it to the roof, etc.

As part of this process all the materials that form the stricture andouter surface of the sun visor are integrated in the injection phase.

A preferred method of manufacturing a sun visor according to theinvention is to begin by using a machine used to inject thermoplasticmaterial with the necessary elements to position, open and close a mouldwith the shape of the part to be made, as well as possessing theinjection units needed to inject a number of thermoplastic materials.

For its part, the mould has been designed to inject more than onecomponent, following known methods that allow this to be done such as,for example, rotation moulding, transfer moulding, etc.

At the beginning of the cycle the mould is open and into it are placedthe different features to be incorporated into the part during the phasewhen the plastic sockets are manufactured such as, for example, themirror, shaft, etc.

Once the mould has been closed the first component is injected into themould and the same machine is used to inject the other component,following the method selected.

Once the second component has been injected, the part is left to to coolbefore the mould is opened and the part formed is taken out.

The two sockets obtained are joined together using any known processused to connect thermoplastic parts: clips, heat sealing, gluing, etc.As a result, the sockets are formed without the need to undertake anyfurther operations.

A sun visor manufactured in such a way can be easily adapted to and usedin a wide range of vehicles, thus providing a number of noteworthyadvantages.

One advantage, for example, lies in the possibility of carrying out theentire process in a single manufacturing position, as all the componentscan be integrated in the first injection stage.

The thermoplastic materials used can be joined together properly,provided that they are compatible, as the parameters necessary for thisto occur are reached during the injection cycle.

The integration of certain features in the formation of the sun visorsockets beforehand avoids time being wasted in assembling them at alater stage.

Furthermore, as the two components are joined together, the parasol canbe given any shape or form and can thus be attached to any kind ofvehicle roof.

These and other aspects of the solution proposed by the invention can beseen in greater detail on the diagram sheet attached, full details ofwhich are given below:

FIG. 1 provides a front-on view of a typical sun visor.

FIG. 2 shows the cross section along the I-I line in FIG. 1 in aconventional non-flat sun visor.

FIG. 3 shows the cross section along the I-I line in FIG. 1 in a flatsun visor.

FIG. 4, according to this invention, shows the cross section along theI-I line in FIG. 1 in a curved sun visor.

According to FIG. 1 this parasol (1) has a body in which a mirror (4)can be seen along with an arm (2) to rotate and move the sun visor inrelation to a base (3) attached to the roof of the vehicle.

When this sun visor is manufactured according to traditional techniques,the interior frame can be manufactured according to any of theaforementioned solutions.

Aside from the aforementioned difficulty of recycling said solutions,the problem created by the lack of adaptability of a sun visormanufactured in such a way to the different curves of roofs in certainmakes of vehicle is illustrated in FIG. 2. Here, the interior frame (6)is covered by an exterior lining (7) that proves to be less thansatisfactory, as its surface does not adapt to the shape of the frame,thus creating undesired gaps (8).

This fault becomes all too evident when a traditional means of applyingthe covering is employed. In theory, and using resources availabletoday, this lack of adaptability can be addressed by undertakingadditional operations such as the use of clips, heat sealing, etc.However, these additional operations prove to be more complex andcostly.

However, according to the claims presented by this invention, the sunvisor illustrated in the cross sections in FIG. 3, provides a completesolution to the problem created by this lack of adaptability, as thematerials that make up the visor are joined together all the way alongthe surface.

One basic solution is that proposed in FIGS. 3 and 4 wherein a frame (5)is formed by injecting a recyclable thermoplastic material, whichincorporates a second injection over it (6), again of a recyclablethermoplastic material.

Another part of these operations that should also be highlighted is theincorporation of various components that make up the sun visor such asfor example, the mirror (4), the shaft that houses the arm (2), etc.

As a result, a parasol designed and manufactured in line with thisinvention can easily be adapted to a wide range of vehicles, is cheapand easy to manufacture and assemble and is also easy to recycle.

The general concept of the invention also enables the possibility ofcreating a single-piece sun visor in the form of a flat board instead ofthe aforementioned dual-socket sun visor, a feature which has duly beenpointed out here.

1. A sun visor for motor vehicles consisting of a main body onto whichcan be incorporated the visor's components such as the mirrors, shafts,electrical circuitry, etc., and which is characterised by the fact thatit has a frame (5) that acts as a supporting structure and as the bodyof the sun visor at the same time. The frame is made of a recyclablethermoplastic material injected into a pre-assembled mould, and a secondmaterial (6), also a recyclable thermoplastic material, injected intothe same mould as the frame to form a final coating. This secondmaterial is compatible with the material used to form the frame andcertain components that make up the final sun visor unit areincorporated into the mould during the injection process.
 2. A sun visoraccording to claim 1 wherein all the materials used to form thestructure and the exterior of the sun visor are incorporated during theinjection process.
 3. A sun visor according to claim 1 wherein thecentral body consists of two casings made of a thermoplastic materialtogether with the corresponding coating and which are then joinedtogether to form a single body.
 4. A sun visor according to claim 1wherein the central body consists of a single layer of thermoplasticmaterial together with the corresponding coating.
 5. A sun visoraccording to claim 1 wherein the inner cavity of the sun visor isformed, either in part or completely, by introducing a fluid, liquid orgas into it, either by pressure injecting the fluid directly into themould cavity or as a result of additives incorporated into the materialsused in the injection process.